001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Are we ready? I think it's kind of empty. Oh, well. >> Look at the foreign aftercare. >> Mhm. I just read that one letter from that lady. >> That's the one I sent. In the email? >> Yeah. >> Ready? Okay. I think the time has come for us to get started. Board of Education has been in closed executive session to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation of specific employees of the public body, and collective negotiating matters between the board and representatives of its employees. No action was taken during the closed executive session. I would now ask everyone to join me in the pledge. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
002justice for all. >> Do we have a recommendation for tonight's agenda? >> Yes, we do. I recommend a board approve tonight's May 12th, 2026 open session board meeting agenda as presented. >> Got a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Those opposed? Motion's carried. Okay, we'll now move on to our district highlights. And I think we have Stephen Decatur Middle School tonight, Curtis Lindsey, principal. You're up. >> All right, hello everyone. Hello to the school board. Hello to Ms. Bradford. Hello to Superintendent Dr. Clark. Hello to our teaching and learning people, also other superintendents as well, assistant superintendents, and those who are present. I am Lindsey, Mr. Lindsey. I am the principal at Stephen Decatur Middle School. Um first I want to thank
003you guys for the opportunity to have this position. Um it has been the greatest thing that has happened to me other than obviously my kids and my wife. Um Uh but just being in this job and seeing the amazing type of staff that we have has been amazing and eye-opening and also to see the wonderful kids that we have in our district and in our school is also amazing. And so I just want to just leave with that part. Um going from there. All right, so um for me in my first year, I was a little crazy and I wanted to be the number one middle school in Central Illinois. I still want to do that and I'm still crazy. And what I had to do is recruit a couple of guys that kind of
004had the same feelings that I had and feel the same way that I feel about the kids. Um one guy in particular I've known this man for over 20 years. It's Mr. Newbern. He came to us this year from Hope Academy. I actually worked with Mr. Newbern at Webster Cantrell Hall a long time ago. We were both caseworkers there and I saw his love for kids and his help for the community then and we're still doing that. So we're Webster community strong in in so many instances. Um the other gentleman that was there was Mr. Grossman. Um he was already in the building. He is my right-hand man. I always say he's the salt to my pepper. And um he does an amazing job with being a part of of his team. And again, I
005needed some crazy people to believe in this mission. And so one of the first things that I wanted to do was to bring the families back to the school. I I know that there was a situation at Stephen Decatur a long time ago. Um but in order to change a school, in order to change kids, in order to change families, you got to bring the families in. And so therefore that's one of the first things that I wanted to do was incorporate activities for our parents and for our kids. Um more importantly, for our parents to see us interacting with their kids so that they know that we come from a place of compassion. We come from a place of empathy. We come from a place of we have kids too. And when your kid
006is here, they are also our kid. And so, just that belief and seeing the parents interact, us interact with their kids, and us interacting with the parents as well, it's an opportunity for us to get a snippet talk with the parents on a on a not as professional level. Um, the other thing was to bring in community partners along with the family engagement. Um, this part was key, this part was big. In my first year, um, I I felt like in order for our school again to to make the change, we need people involved, and we need the community to community to be involved in what we're trying to do. And so, therefore, um, had a couple people reach out to me, um, but more importantly, my amplified fathers is is an institution that we
007started doing. We do a donuts for dad, um, once a month. It's usually on a Wednesday, and we started out with just, um, sugary drinks and, um, life life-changing conversations. And dads were coming out, grandpas, uncles, anybody that was a mentor and a positive role model in in one of our kids' lives. And so, therefore, our kids saw that as well, and it was a good opportunity to showcase this thing because we need more men, um, involved in our kids' lives. Um, again, family involvement is is something that we do it, and it's something that I stay keen to and I adhere to. Um, we do bingo nights. We had a science night. We had a back-to-school dance. Um, we have our sneaker ball coming up this Friday for our graduation. And so, we try
008to do a lot of things with our parents. The next year, we're going to institute a a, um, uh, uh, what is it called? A, um, where you throw the balls at people. That that type of thing. So, yeah, we're doing a dodgeball tournament. And so, I know for parents, that's going to be exciting, right? And so, therefore, so just, again, trying to institute things for our parents, for our kids, for our communities to see that Stephen Decatur is not what it was. Stephen Decatur is changing. And for the most part, if you guys saw me last year, I've changed. I had a beard, I had hair, I had eyebrows. I no longer have all of that, but my passion is still there. My love for this school is still there. My love for our
009kids is still there. And so therefore, again, the same thing with the communities that we're bringing in, they have that same love for our kids and that same passion for what we're trying to do for our kids. I was actually able to meet with one of some of the local churches here in town and we did a community trunk or treat. We had over 600 families at the event. It was amazing. I was shocked how many people came out to the event. For one, for two, because where it was located, because we still have those stigmas with our school, but again, we're trying to erase those and get rid of those. And these are examples of how we can do that and how we can move the needle with our students. All right, snapshot of
010our school. This is from last year. We were intensive, which means that we did not meet on our Illinois assessment readiness test. Going in, we kind of knew we were up to some challenges. Another one of our challenges was our kids being absent a lot. Our kids just didn't come to school quite as much and we didn't understand why. But overall, we did improve our scores by 14%. So that is a is a positive and a plus for us for last school year. Also, results from last school year, our reading did increase. It did not meet our goal of going up by 5%, but we did increase our reading goal. In math, we wanted to increase by up to 5% and we increased by almost 7% with our math scores. And discipline-wise, we had 3,500
011referrals in year one, in year two, we have 3,100, a little over 3,100 referrals. So we didn't meet that expectation. As you guys noticed on the side there, these are the four infractions that our school and our teachers and our staff felt were the ones that we need to focus in on. And if you've noticed, they all have take taken a dip. And most importantly, our skipping has changed. Uh we used to have kids walk around the school all day because it looked like the mall, so therefore they wanted to walk around like it was the mall. And so, we just instituted some things there so that our students know that if they're not doing what they need to do, then there's consequences for those things. And And so, therefore we instituted a instituted a
012tardy policy. And so, if our kids are late to class twice, then they have a after-school detention. If they do not serve the after-school detention, we will reach out to the parents. If they do not serve it, then they will have to serve a one-day out-of-school suspension for that. Now, we try not to get to that part. We try to put some ownership on the students and the parents. And therefore, that's why we do the after-school detention so that the parents again know when we're dealing with their kid, it's from a place of empathy and a place of understanding. Our fights have went down, and obviously our disruptive behavior has reduced also. So, along with that, this year we have student incentives that we have done and created for our kids. Um some things that
013we do for perfect attendance, we've had slushies, we've done ice cream socials, we've done pizza parties as well. Um we had a Sadie Hawkins dance. All right, for us in the room that's about my age, 50 years or a little bit older, um where the where the girls asked the guys to come to the Valentine's dance. And we had pizza and cookies and drinks, and it was a good time. Um every quarter, at the end of the quarter, uh every 9 weeks, we have what we call quarter wars. And this is an opportunity for our advisories to have a little competition, a friendly competition amongst the classes and amongst the the And so, we did tug of war, we do four corner volleyball, we've done a streamer screamers where the kids have to wrap the
014streamers around their face and all that stuff, the mummy wrap as you guys can see. And we just do things that are fun for our kids cuz we want to bring fun back to the school. And therefore, this is part of that. Another thing that we do on Wednesdays on our half days is we made those fun days as well. So, before it was like 50% attendance, once we changed them to fun days, it went up to like 82%. And so, therefore, we have more kids coming to school on the days that are considered our half days. Classrooms, these are a couple of pictures of some of our things that are going on in class. As you can see, one of our teachers, they call her grandma, and those are her grandchildren. And and again,
015we have a good group of students who have bought in to what we're doing, who have bought in to this belief of we are a family, who have bought into this that I am your uncle, I am your big cousin, and I'm just trying to help you. So, when I'm redirecting you, it's just to help you. When I'm trying to give you some encouragement, it's obviously for the encouragement piece because we see something in our students that they don't see within themselves. So, again, with our classroom stuff, again, we want to make that more more or less an academic thing. So, our goals for this year was to go from 23% to 28%. And then from 17 to 22, we have not received those results yet. I will be happy to share those when we
016do. But again, some of those incentives, we do monthly rewards, assemblies, quarter war games. We also instituted a PPIS Reds cash system for our kids. So, if you're a lot like like I like my kids were, my kids never got in trouble, and I'm sure a lot of your kids never got in trouble, but the kids that never got in trouble never got awards or got recognized for that. So, we want to bring that back for kids who always do the right thing. Kids who always do the right thing never get recognized. And so, therefore, this was a part of that being making sure they are seen as well cuz we always see the prickly kids, but never the ones that are sparkling and doing their thing. And so, therefore, we wanted to do that.
017Um universal class starters class starters, bell ringers, that's a that's a a definite for us. You have to have those at the beginning of class. When kids walk in the room, they know what's going on. I'm looking at coaching um Coach Hale and he was a football coach and I'm a I was a football coach. And we're routine guys. And so, therefore, it has to be the same routine all the time. We speak be consistent, right? That's a sports term, but it also is a term that we all need to use. Stay consistent. The kids know there's no no dillydallying. There's no swishy-swashiness. There is no you feeling good today and on Friday you don't feel good. Stay consistent. Stay the same and then everything else will will work out for itself. Um the other
018thing we're trying to do is create a culture and climate for our school. Um we have new teachers this year. Um 10 of our new teachers are international teachers. And so, therefore, we want to make sure they understand they're not international teachers. They're just teachers that go to Steven Decatur. And so, therefore, we instituted a breakfast thing so that um they can bring in breakfasts or things that they would eat in their their home countries and we just sample those things. And so, just a good opportunity for us to network together, to be together, to talk amongst each other, and to do things. And so, therefore, we had Christmas. He dressed as uh Mr. Oswald right from the Griswolds and and we did Halloween things and and all those things. So, a lot of amazing
019things. We also had Mr. John's hair, which is no longer Mr. John's. Um but they came in and they did haircuts for us for free. And that was pretty amazing for our students cuz our students feel like looking good is a part of being good. Um, again, more classroom stuff here. Um, we have a guy who likes to do science labs all the time. He does dissections all the time. Um, a lot of hands-on stuff. So, we believe our students learn best when they're up, when they're moving, when they're not lectured to death. And so, therefore, we in we incorporate our instituted that our teachers should make sure they're making sure our kids are moving, they're up, and they're and they're learning. And and our kids are cooking. They're making things. That's important. Now, I
020would not eat it. Um, but therefore, they are cooking. They're excited about it. And they're like, "Mr. Lenz, will you eat?" I'm like, "You know I don't eat lunch, but I might catch you next time." Um, but again, it's just that encouragement to see them feel good about something that they know they can do. And so, therefore, that's that's important for our kids and for our students and for our school. Um, our discipline goals was to reduce our infractions by 10% every year. In 2020 In 2024-2025, we're at 3,000. This year, we're at 2,300. And so, that's way above what we're doing. And so, part of it is our kids just understand that we're just there to help. The other part is bringing in community partners to join that process. We have a Mr. Green
021who's from the community. He has Get Wealth Inc. And he works with a lot of our male students, our rougher male students, so to speak. And he just talks to them about life, and about wealth, and about education, and and about what what they want to do in the next steps. Um, we also have Sister Girls that comes in that works with our young ladies about empowerment, um, conflict resolution, those things. And and it has helped tremendously with our boys and our girls. Um, when I get to our next slides or so, you'll see the amount of fighting that has reduced. Our students don't really fight much anymore. Um, they like to talk it out. And as adults, that's what we always try to teach them the right thing is to talk out your problems,
022talk out your situations. Um, we also have Oak King's Orchard uh community outreach. We have a couple guys that comes to the building and does the same thing as our student interventionists do at our school, which is to if they see a need for a student a guy's having a bad moment, just pull them, talk to them, pull them to the side, um, pour some life into them, plant a seed, and more importantly because that's what they need. And then again, we have Amplified Fathers that is there also to to help echo those same things that we are doing. Um, we're utilizing our interventions with our social emotional support. We have an amazing counselors. We have amazing social workers, and they do a great job of when they see a need for a kid, instead
023of sending them to the office, then you send them to the social worker. You send them to the counselor. Not everything is an office issue. And so therefore, just trying to get the staff to know that and the kids to realize that as well. And again, we track our students' progress, and we want to reformulate their plan and to get them back on track because ultimately, they're our kids and we don't throw our kids away. That's that's not what we want to do. All right, so like I was talking about our discipline snapshot for 25-26, we have reduced it from the previous year that I wasn't here by 73%. Our skipping is 89%. Our physical confrontations, as you can see, 100 at 68%. That is huge. Um, we had some students at our school today,
024um, doing a visit from some of the other schools that will be coming to us. And the same thing I said to them, Stephen Decatur is not what you think Stephen Decatur We're far removed from that. And again, we're trying to be the best the number one school middle school in Central Illinois. And our kids are starting to believe that, and our numbers are starting to show that as well. And so therefore, if you ladies and gentlemen have an opportunity to come to Stephen Decatur on your off time, on the free time, for your lunch, just stop by and see us. Just come by and hang out with us. Come talk with a kid. Find out how amazing our kids are because they are. Stephen Decatur was never broken. It just needed somebody there with
025the right battery to put the put it back in the clock to get it working again. You hit the video We got a video. >> Oh, that's a PDF. >> Yeah, he's going to go to a video. This video will will showcase um one of the events that we did at our school here. One of our quarter awards that we did. So that was our staff versus students basketball game. A lot of people said next year we're doing volleyball, so I'm down for that, right? You don't have to worry about our knees or Achilles or anything like that. But once again, thank you for this opportunity to present here, and thank you for the opportunity to be the principal at Stephen Decatur. I couldn't imagine life without being anywhere else. I love Stephen Decatur. It's
026my home. It's I'm there all the time, anyways, let my wife tell it. Um but, it's the greatest place on the planet. Please come see us. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Outstanding. >> That will end our district highlights for this evening. >> Okay, we'll move on to public participation. Board of Education would like to note the following during public participation, identify oneself and be brief. Comments should be limited to 3 minutes. Any public comments submitted to the board secretary will be included in the record. Please note that during any Board of Education meeting in public participation, board members do not respond and/or comment to public comments. All comments are referred to administration. Furthermore, the board refrains from referring to specific students or staff members by name and requests that public commenters refrain from doing
027so as well. The request that you omit names is made to protect you from allegations of libel or slander or from violations of the Illinois School Student Records Act. It is not intended to shield an employee from criticism. Ms. Bradford, do we have anyone wishing to address the board tonight? >> Yes, we do. But, before I call names, we did have I did have one submitted for the record by Megan Merrick. It will be added to the May 12th minutes. >> Okay. >> Sarah Bryce. Tricky. I understand the district must make budget cuts each year depending on a variety of factors. I also understand that money comes from different sources and must be spent in certain ways. I implore you to take a closer look at the extended day program, what it looks like for
028next year, and how this will impact the community. There is a big disconnect among those with young children requiring child care and those who do not. I have a 3-year-old I want to send to preschool at Montessori Academy for Peace. With no before care, he will need to be dropped off at school each day at 9:10. Have you had a job where you can drop off your student at 9:10 in the morning and then leave again at 11:30 to pick them up at 11:45? You might say, "Well, families did it before COVID money." Before extended day existed, Garfield and Enterprise were centrally located off 51. Now MAP is a solid 15 minutes away from most businesses and 20 minutes away from my West End home. Garfield and Enterprise also functioned on the tier two time
029slot with a drop-off around 8:00 a.m. This is more in line with an adult working schedule. Have you hired the most profitable extended day provider in the nation to serve Decatur? I looked through the minutes and have not seen any vote for approval, but it seems Champions is moving forward. Now on to my oldest son. Do I mind paying for child care? No, I've done it for 6 years. Do I make mind paying far more than any other surrounding school, including all the private schools? Yes, I do. Have you forgotten the population you serve? 50% of MAP live below the poverty line, according to the Illinois State Report Card. You are asking these families to pay $140 per child with CCRS only covering $17 a day. This can't be the low-cost option that was presented
030and promised at the school board meeting. How is everyone in surrounding schools doing it cheaper? My brief recommendations, use the current extended day structure and charge. Did you run these numbers to see what it would take to charge families under the current structure? Each week when I register in the portal, it is already up set to accept my payment. Change Montessori to a tier two or preferably tier one so drop-off is more accessible for working parents. Pre-K transportation is not provided by the district. Start thinking of barriers for young families. Don't hire champions. To conclude, I require the ability to drop off my son at MAP at a before care program by August. If this can't happen, I ask for a change in school time by August. Moving Montessori Academy for Peace to tier one
031would allow parents to transport and get back to work by 8:00. Additionally, I would like to know if you have discussed internally keeping the current structure and change and charging on a sliding scale. What would this cost look like? This information should be available via FOIA. Thank you. Chelsea Bray >> Hi, I'm here because my daughter is graduating from the Prep Academy and I just want to tell you guys how much I do appreciate the support and the dedication and just backing the Prep Academy. Richland Community College did it. We have a couple amazing mentors that have been with my daughter for the last four years. Um, and to be able to be a parent and go and celebrate my child graduating from Richland Community College on Friday and then from MacArthur High School on
032Saturday is huge. So, I want to just say thank you guys because Prep Academy is an amazing program that I wish I had when I was a child. Um, I do have two other children that are in DPS as well. One is at Danby and I hope and pray that by the time she gets up to eighth grade that it's still available for her as well. So, thank you guys for backing DPS DPS for Prep Academy. Thank you guys for back backing Prep Academy for all your support, your dedication, and I also thank Richland Community College as well. Thank you. >> Olivia Bray >> Hi, my name's Olivia Bray and I just wanted to talk about Prep Academy and brag on it really quick. I'm a senior at MacArthur High School and I the Prep
033Academy has given me so many opportunities that I would have never had if Prep Academy wasn't a thing. And I have so many amazing mentors that are through the program that I will keep forever in my back pocket and they will always be there for me to support me no matter where I go and no matter what I do. And just knowing that I have that support even after high school is just amazing opportunity and an amazing program in itself and I just want to thank DPS and I want to thank Richland for the opportunity to do this for the past 4 years and I want to thank and I just really hope that the program like keeps going because like my mom just said, I have a I have both siblings in DPS and
034this program will genuinely I think thrive and go so many more places in the next I don't know how many years and I think if it keeps getting the support and this funding and everything that's getting the support from everyone then it'll definitely flourish. So, I just want to say thank you. >> Congratulations. Jason Johnson >> Uh before we start, can we say a prayer for President uh President cuz he about to make a major deal. Okay. Under God Under Under God God We're under you. We pray that Donald Trump is successful with the Iran deal so we can have our gas prices down. In Jesus Christ name. Amen. >> Amen. >> You can start. >> Uh My mother told me not to take boat rides from strangers. Uh We have a sport uh we
035have a sport of flipping onto the water when you dive. We was doing that. We was doing that. Flipping off the boat. And all we wanted was our 10 but you kept on giving us our four, you know. So you know, uh aerials and back flips and stuff. And uh I cheated on my sugar mama for my little mama. And I uh I picked uh I don't know how she found out but I picked somebody else's cotton. And uh we can just get freedom out the way and district 61 and district 64 I mean district four can be my slave. And uh and tell y'all can keep keep us out our mouth. >> Okay. >> Uh uh racism uh she asked me to date a white woman and I instead ate the forbidden fruit. Uh
03612 years of the fall, how we looking? And who you think that taught Jesus to walk on water? No, I'm just a N-word that walk on water. All right. Thank you. >> Caitlin Donahue >> Hi. Um I'm a Montessori parent. I have two children at Montessori and I'm also here to discuss the extended day. Um I have a child who is in the pre-K 4 program and will has had a wonderful year in pre-K 3 and will not be um eligible for extended day next year under the current structure. Um I'm very concerned that we're going to be able to stay in Montessori as um we're two working parent household and neither of our work schedules line up between 9:30 and 3:15. Um I know dozens of other families in the same position who have
037two working parents who can't make these hours work for um pick up and drop off. Um As we've heard that family engagement is very important to this district. Um you're probably going to lose a lot of good families in this district that are really engaged. Um with this price point of Champions, um the the rate per week is so high that it is comparable to the parochial schools in the neighbor or in in the city and um their hours work with my family schedule. Um I'm also I'm concerned about the lack of choice and transparency in choosing Champions and if a contract has been signed or if other vendors were interviewed um or if putting some sort of a plan into place of the existing structure. Um so I look forward to um learning more
038about the future of extended day in Decatur. >> Okay. We appreciate all the public comments at every meeting. Anyone else in the audience have any comments? If not, thank you so much for those those comments. And we'll move on to board discussion. Is there anything at this point in time that any board member would like to bring forth? >> I I do. Um so I did the math on this Champions deal. Uh I would encourage all my board members to go out to the CCRS calculator. You can run whatever numbers you want. Uh if you are a single parent who works at Caterpillar as a uh with one child as a welder trainee at $24 an hour, you do not qualify for CCRS. So, you're going to have to eat the $145 and that is
039that that $145 is for before-and-after care, $55 in the morning, $90 in the evening uh for evening care. The other piece to this is um when looking at that, that doesn't include any other any other uh student that you might have. And so when you compare that to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, Our Lady of uh I'm sorry, let me take a step back. At $29 a day for 5 days at 176 days, that's $5,104. The Our Lady of Lourdes tuition minus a $400 PTO fee, which you can avoid by volunteering for 20 hours a week, is $4,900. So, we're asking a high-poverty district to pay more for on average 3 to 4 hours a day of coverage than it would to pull out your child and put them into parochial school. And I
040understand that the presentation we received when Champions I went back and looked they said our cost would be about $50 uh for our for our parents, $50 a week. To get that, you have to be a family of three uh to get about $50 a week and actually it's a it's it's at 140 for a family three of $48,000. And so when you look at what our entry level is, I mean that's that's actually what our that's basically what a first-year teacher makes. And so, what we're asking is Um and I understand that we cannot wholly fund this out of it out of our coffers at the moment, but what we're asking is for families to take on an an incredible amount of cost. I mean, even my family and I I send my kid
041to aftercare. I'm not going to be able to afford this. I'm going to have to find something else to do because and and I make I I'm at the top, you know, in the top probably I'm in the second quintile for Decatur in terms of income. And I understand that things need to change and as uh I've been told several times we're not in the child care business, but I think that this will just be one more thing that will dissuade people from coming to this district and being involved in this district. And the fact that it reaches so deep into an income piece where you're talking about somebody who is starting level like Caterpillar not having to come out of pocket and you know I just don't know because the other piece of this
042is it's 3 days. If you go for 3 days, you pay $145. It's not a full 5 days. So um I don't know what the plan is. I don't know if we're just this community is just going to have to eat this and we hope that other organizations step up, but at this point I don't know how this is going to be sustainable for our parents and I don't know when they go to do the dollar amount and do the calculation, what's going to keep them in DPS. And so, this will have I I feel that this will have wide-ranging wide-ranging effects on what our student body looks like and have wide-ranging effects on uh wide-ranging effects on overall income generation in this community. And I think that the secondary and tertiary effects of this
043are going to be significant. So, um that's my concern. >> There's also other concerns as to that it's the same price point at every school and the hours vary. So, that's not really equitable. Um and there's also the issues that lots of people have brought up in that they are not caring for preschoolers. And for lots of our parents, that is and families, that is something that is very important to them as well. Um additionally, if there are days when school is not in session, parents are going to have to pay out of pocket for that as well. >> And Champions was saying that's about $80 a day that's not included in that 145. >> Exactly. >> The other piece is I went to the Champions presentation at Dansby. Uh after everybody kind of left,
044I went over and talked to their staff and introduced myself as a board member and had a conversation. And what I got from them is they don't they I said I I asked them point-blank, "Have you ever worked in districts that have this type of socio- economic status?" And four of them said, and the person who will be our regional director has said, "No." That they usually are not in districts like ours. So, um I think that Champions sold us a bill of goods. Um I think that I don't know what we're going to do, but I can't I can't vote for Champions to come. And if I'm the only one, I'm the only one. >> Well, Mr. Wetzel, I I appreciate your impassioned plea, and I appreciate you giving the numbers. I too feel
045the same way you do. I do not think the price point is where it needs to be to help our families. Um one thing I really pressed for in talking to them was making sure uh our lower-income families were going to be protected at all costs, and I do not feel that is being done in a proper way. I think uh the expense per week is going to hurt families and take them possibly into changing jobs, changing their lives, and changing school districts. And I think we need to rethink Champions or at least hold their feet to the fire to get a better price for our parents. Anyone? >> I was going to say I do think as is we will lose people from the district. I think that before losing jobs, that's what we'll
046lose. >> Let me ask you something with with staff. Could you come back with an outline of the options that were considered when you were doing your due diligence and in-house were there options considered for sliding scales, were there options considered for maybe one site, two sites? What options were looked at and how did those how were those weighed against a Champions presentation or I I believe there was another firm, too, but just a global outlook at what were the options, how were they considered, how were they scored, or how were they how was all that brought forward? How did all that percolate up? >> I can do all of that right here. Um for over a year now, Dr. Curry has told this board that we could no longer continue with this extended day
047at this rate, and we had discussions about letting it go. And that's what was agreed to take place, that we will no longer be doing extended day after this school year. And we wanted to give parents enough time so they can find whatever day care that they needed to find to accommodate their families. Now, when we were talking about what would this look like, no one said, "Well, we need to find something." Well, no, we do not need to find something because we said we would not be doing extended day. Now, I brought Champions forward because it mimics some of the same guidelines that extended day had. It is not something that anybody has to do. So, just because they are wanting to partner with us, it doesn't mean that they are the end-all for
048everything. You don't have to do Champions at all. There are plenty of community agencies out here that families can utilize. They have to utilize them in the summer anyway. They have to utilize them when we don't have school. So, these same options are still available to them. Just because Champions is wanting to partner and utilize our schools, it is not automatic that you or anybody else have to attend. So, if they don't get the families, they don't get the families. That's nothing for us to worry about in my opinion because there are other opportunities out there. So, I said before, uh you still have your Y, you still have your Boys & Girls Club, you still have KinderCare that's always been out here. You still have La Petite that I've even used when I had
049kids. Um and yes, I do understand about the financial structure, but what was happening before ESSER was into play. The same things must occur. Families are going to have to find extended day, after day, before whatever is needed for their family that suits their family. If we had the money to do all of this, we never would have had to have this announcement to begin with. We don't have over $2 million a year. We don't have a way to say, "Well, you only make $20,000 a year and get the exact same equitable coverage as somebody that's making $10 a year." Um I'm sorry, $10,000 a year. That's up to the individual um vendors that are housing however many students that they carry from DPS to determine their scales. We have nothing to do with that.
050And that's what I said before. Now, yes, Champion said zero to little cost, but they also said, "I will be at this location on this day. I will help you complete the paperwork to determine what you qualify for and do what I can to get you these rates." They don't control that outcome, either. So, in the end, they are being up-front by saying, "Scan this QR code. Meet with me so I can figure out what we can do on our end, but ultimately, the choice is yours." So, no, there is nothing else out there that I'm looking for, um but there is plenty out there that parents can look for that best suits their individual household. >> I think what what's happened is that since we gave an after-school program last year, we spoiled our
051constituents. They're expecting more from us than what we're offering. I don't totally understand tier one other than the fact that it's a lower social economic station. Do all of our schools qualify as tier one schools? >> That part I'm not quite understanding. >> Title one. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Yeah, thank you. >> Okay. All right. So, our most of our K-8s qualify for some title ones. Not the high school, right? Am I correct? Okay. So, yes. >> a reason why they don't? Why does the high school not qualify as a title one? >> Well, it's the best you can get. >> Hi, sorry. Hi, everybody. So, I'm going to try to since Dr. Curry isn't here, I'm going to try to summarize this the best way I can. The application that we apply for
052in um Decatur does not cover the high schools because many years ago it was determined that the best needs for those funds were at the elementary level. We are a district-wide Title 1 school, but the funding sources go to the elementary because that was that was allocated long before any of us were I'm saying long before any of us were here in order to make that. So, the high schools do not get that Title 1 funding, but the all the K8s and including Stephen Decatur um >> Is there Is there eligible money available to the high schools that we can apply for? >> I don't know. >> Uh not at this time. Not at this time. >> What what keeps us from Why can't our high schools be Title 1? >> The It was the
053It's the way way we write the grant. >> really a Curry question. Like I can put that I can like ask him and maybe he can have something for you at the next board meet uh meeting, but those financial questions really are Curry question. About how the structure unfolded. >> Okay. >> So, again, all I'm stating is our families do have choices. They have to determine what is best for them. I'm not pushing Champions in any way. When I um listened to what they had to say, I felt it was a good combination because they would go and do the same hours as our current extended day was utilizing. They would be in the same buildings that are uh current extended day are in and that uh would provide a sense of uh consistency, but
054under no circumstances am I saying families just go to Champions. I'm saying families, you have to do your homework and decide what is best for your families. >> Quick question. Um, is there any way to find a hybrid system that would help that would be community based or do we have to go through a program like Champions? >> You don't have to go through a program like Champions. There is a lot of programs that's in the community already that's established. >> What what I'm asking is if there was another possibility of a group of individuals to come in. You know, we have to look at the numbers and I'm not saying my order organization, but you know, we're facing a lot of things moving forward where there's a lot of volunteerism that's going to be
055needed. And then there's some funds set aside to pay a possible Champions. Could we possibly come together and put a program together that will pull people from the community in that will be possibly qualified to help with this aftercare. >> So, Champions is already doing that. They've been interviewing already to get those exact things, volunteers, paid, all of that. But if you're asking is the district going to do anything? >> No, no, that's fine. What I'm saying is maybe uh the program should not go through Champions. That could actually counter what Champions is asking. >> I'm sure um there may be some people out there thinking that. I mean, I don't want to speak for anybody. >> Yeah. >> But I do know that someone is working with the city. I don't know how that's
056going to unfold and what that is going to look like. >> Um but no, not not really. Nothing else. >> Not right now. >> Yes. >> Okay, that's all I wanted to know. >> So, a question that I have is that DPS utilized ESSER funds, which we knew were going to go away, >> Mhm. >> for a program that we knew we wanted to continue, which to me seems not a great idea. Um, and then >> just make one quick statement before you move forward because and this is me coming in after the fact. Now, I was told that it was going to continue as long as ESSER funds were available. So, I just wanted to be clear. >> But, unlike, let's say, Title I funds, they we pretty much knew that they were going
057to expire at some point. >> That is correct. >> Um, and so, what DPS seemed to do was to get the community rely, you know, relying on something that was going to go away. So, why aren't we looking at an in-house option? >> Because >> Why is that completely off the table? >> Because we just said we don't have the funds for it. >> No, but if if we charged parents for it is my is my Like, if if we could do it cheaper than a place that has high overhead and things like that, is there a way that we could do a sliding scale? I'm not saying for free. Um, is is there a way that we could possibly do that? Would we we charge parents for some things? >> I'm going to be
058honest with you, we don't get all of our parents even pay registration fees. So, to go into the business of trying to get money collected for something that expensive, I don't see it happening. That's just my own personal opinion. Now, if the board decides to do something differently along the way, I'm sure that they will do what they can, but just from my own experience, I'm going to say you're going to lose more money. You're still going to be in that negative when you're done. >> Okay, but the question needed to be asked, so thank you. >> I just as an as as an observation from a long-standing relationship with these grant programs. Uh this is a classic case of we give something away, whether it's a school, whether it's a park, whether it's a
059whatever it is, and we get a community accustomed to receiving that service at little to no charge, and we don't have any intention long term, or the federal government or the state government has no intention long term of continuing to provide the funds to make that program possible. Consequently, it's really a shift of responsibility from the state federal level back to the local level, which ultimately means at the end of the day the taxpayers and funding agencies in a local community are once again tasked with trying to figure out how to make these programs viable. And it it was a service. It was a It was a viable service. It is a viable service. My question earlier really was, have we looked at in-house options? Have we considered alternative ways of doing this? Uh have
060we exhausted all those options other than uh the Up until last year, Dr. Curry said everything was fine. And now we're back to um but we don't need to consider one program in isolation, either. There are a number of programs that District 61 funds that need to be looked at in totality, not just one program at a time, and what that one program entails, whether it's costs, whether it's staffing, how that works. There's got to be a total of We have a budget coming up. So, it's it's a time for board members, I think, to really take a serious look at all we do, how we do it, when we do it, and what that might look like from cost structure going forward. And it's time to stop taking one issue at a time. It's
061time to look at the totality and what our priorities are going to be moving forward with that totality. >> And I don't disagree, but I I just want to make one correction. Dr. Curry stated over a year ago that December of this school year, we would be out of funds. We asked the board to maintain status quo so that the families didn't have to search for care in December. So, we ran out of money in December of 25. And he said in 24, we will be out of money. So, he made that statement multiple times. This year, knowing what was coming down the pipeline, we looked at extended care and summer vouchers. Remember, because I said after this year, that was done, too. So, when you're done going through the strategic plan and things of
062that nature, yes, the board is going to have to decide next steps based on that strategic plan. >> And I know that every district's different, but one of the biggest struggles I have here is Springfield's $18 million in the hole. They have twice as many students, and they figured out how to do to preserve the program on a sliding scale fee. And I understand that we might not have the same resources that they do, but when they did a parent survey, that's one of the number one things that they came back with. And so, um that's that's where a lot of my frustration comes from is watching other districts who used ESSER money like this that actually put in planning to provide for this. And I I And it just catch catches us aware. It's
063the same piece of the shock that we shut it down and our partners reaching out saying, "I didn't know." I mean, it all goes within the same piece. I know that we're So, that's that's where my frustration comes from. And, you know, I'm I'm one of seven. So, it's whatever the rest of the world wants to do. >> So, another quick question being new. We voted um a few meetings back on the welcome packets. And, this is just my thoughts, but really it's not Yeah. And, um after we voted to approve those packets, which was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, I looked online, and there was a lot of people that work in the district that did not agree with that. My thoughts was, you know, I know we had to appropriate the
064funds. And, at that time the district felt that it was a good idea for community outreach to continue to fund those welcome packets. I think now, if we had reappropriated those funds to this issue, I don't think we would have had problems within the district of accepting that. Even if it was to offset some of the prices for this uh program. Um again, this neither here nor there, but you know, the thought that we keep coming back and saying and being reminded that we voted on certain things, and then another issue arise. Now, we're trying to figure it out. You know, and there's some other things that we have talked about. I don't know, maybe next closed session we need to take a step back and take another look at our budget and see some
065of the things that, you know, um the people that are out there working boots on the ground aren't finding valuable. And, looking at what they're really finding valuable, and reappropriate those funds to those needs. I mean, there's I have a thought in my head on how we can work on the aftercare. You know, um with some volunteer help. But, it's going to take some work. You know, and this is where we're going to start asking the community to save itself. But, if we have some funds to help out, that might bring a positive light. There's going to have to be people qualified to do the work. There's going to have to be consistency, but I think there is possibly some people out there that would be that would be willing to volunteer to a certain
066extent to help this move forward. You know, not only are we going to lose individuals, but you know, um people not coming to school, the truancy rate is going to go up. I mean, there's going to be a lot of issues. You know, um Mr. Lindsey just gave an excellent presentation, and his numbers dropped from the negative. That might go back up if this continues to move in that direction. So, you know, just the priorities on what we're looking at, what we're spending on, and how the money's going to affect us down the road outside of in the moment, I think we did need to be a little more diligent in what we're what we're doing. That's just my opinion, and I'll share my ideas later, but uh I might have a thought to help
067with that with that problem. >> And just one uh point of clarity, some money's that TNL get can only be spent a certain way, and you use it or lose it. So, I just wanted to put that out there. >> What window of uh is that always in discretion, or is there a way that could be reappropriated before it gets into that? >> They They are very clear about what you can utilize money on. >> Hm. >> Do when we talk about losing this $2 million uh dollars extra money for this program, was there any thought to how much we could afford to put towards this program? You You You talk about we'd never get our total cost back from the parents. Not everybody will pay their dues and stuff like that, but is there
068in our budget some amount of money we could put towards that? and maybe not lose $2 million? I mean >> My I I >> That makes sense? >> I understand. I believe I understand your question. My department, my entire district leadership just had to cut 10% of our total budget just to afford what is happening with contract negotiations. So, that is what we're saying when we're talking about deficit spending. So, we are doing our due diligence. And yes, this is a program that is going to hurt by not being here, but you asked me to be fiscally sound, and that's what I'm trying to do. Ultimately, it's the board's decision. Again, we had the conversation. This is what was agreed upon, but if it's something different now, then I'm pretty sure someone can figure something
069out. I don't know, but right now, we're cutting our own budgets just to make ends meet. >> I think we're clear, Dr. Carr. >> Uh when do we expect the uh Champions contract? >> Um right now, we're going back and forth with their legal team and our legal team. My job is to make sure that the district is not held responsible for anything that is unfolding. Um and that's why we I haven't brought the contract yet. So, I haven't even seen the final contract. >> I I guess that that comes to the next piece. Why are we allowing them into our schools if we don't have a contract with them? >> Because part of the uh letter of intent, and they showed you this on the screen, their job was to try to get as
070many people hired as they possibly can for the number of students that they hope to obtain, um and do all the information that was needed for the family. So, helping them to apply, to see what they qualify for, all of that. But nothing else is unfolding until the contract is approved. >> registrations. They're registering our kids. >> Yes, because they have to go through that process. They talked about that. They said, you know, in terms of scanning that QR code, they wanted to get families approved so they'll know before they do anything what they are um of that what they qualify for. So, I'm not going to say um well, unfortunately, you can you're only getting whatever that was, $17 a day, so you going to owe me $140. I know that up front, so
071I'm not going to Champions. I'm going to go someplace else. >> Okay. Um but what I'm saying is their system when I was there and we went through it, it didn't dump us into the CCRS piece to say how much do you qualify. They had a sheet that said that, right? The other piece was register for Champions, get your kid in line. So, we know what we know where and what schools we're going to be at. And so, I guess that's my my issue is and my question here is and I understand that they are their own company, but if we have a contract with them, where is our what is our liability for personal protected information? Cuz if they're asking for social uh social security numbers and things like that, I understand that that
072sits with them, but if we don't have a contract with them yet, I mean, how does that all work? >> That would be a question I would have to follow up with them because they were trying to explain all of that in the the last meeting that we had when they were um going through their PowerPoint presentation. So, let me follow up um and then get the information back to you. >> Yeah. The short answer is there is no contract in place currently. It's it's in negotiation. So, if Champions is engaging in registration, they're um speculating that a contract would come through. Okay. Uh so, the current format of the contract that's being negotiated is essentially a facilities use document. You are allowing them to use school facilities to provide their program. >> Mhm. >>
073Very different from a program operated by the school district. Uh so, the pricing is between the parent and Champions, the registration is between the parent and Champions. But, if they're registering students and families for a program, that program does not exist in your schools until the board approves that agreement. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. Appreciate the clarification. >> Any other thoughts? So, we'll probably see this again at the next meeting. >> Prob- I don't I can't say that for sure until I know what's going on with the contract, so. >> Okay. >> But, that's all we have for administration. >> Okay. Nothing else from administration. Okay, we'll move on to our consent items. Does anyone want any of these items pulled from the consent? Uh do we have a recommendation for consent? >> Yes, I
074recommend the Board of Education approve the consent items as presented, which includes A, minutes open closed meetings April 28th, 2026. B, freedom of information report. C, bills. >> A motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Mr. Bradford? >> Mr. Reynolds? >> Aye. >> Mr. Hale? >> Aye. >> Mr. Wetzel? >> Aye. >> Mr. Clevenger? >> Aye. >> Mr. Joiner? >> Aye. >> And Dr. Laurenson? >> Aye. >> Six aye, zero nay, one absent. Motion carried. >> Okay, we'll move on to our roll call action items. Um we have I make a motion to approve a one-year subscription to the Super Eval for online superintendents evaluation tool as has been presented. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Uh I assume we'll be going year to year. >> It's a year
075to year. >> Okay. >> Um I believe some of us I completed the training um earlier. Pretty comprehensive, nice nice process that we went through. Hope everyone else will have the opportunity to go through that as well. Um I think it's going to be a nice process for us to be able to continually evaluate on a continuum. Um any other any other comments? >> Just that we the board own this, so if we got technical questions, we'll have to kind of answer them ourselves or go to the system. And I'm happy to help anybody that might have troubles in the first year. >> They also indicated, at least during the training, that they were available as well. So, we have our our board expert and our expert from SuperEval to help us. So. Can I
076get a motion? >> There's a motion and second on the floor. >> Ms. Bradford. >> Dr. Laurenson? >> Aye. >> Mr. Hale? >> Aye. >> Mr. Reynolds? >> Aye. >> Mr. Joiner? >> Aye. >> Mr. Wetzel? >> Aye. >> And Mr. Clemenger? >> Aye. >> Six aye, zero nay, one absent. Motion carried. >> Do we have a recommendation for the personnel action items? >> Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the personnel action items listed in the memo from Monica Wilks, Director of Human Resources in the Human Resources Department, as presented. >> Can I get a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Ms. Bradford. >> Mr. Joiner? >> Aye. >> Mr. Clemenger? >> Aye. >> Dr. Laurenson? >> Aye. >> Mr. Hale? >> Aye. >> Mr. Reynolds? >> Aye. >> And
077Mr. Wetzel? >> Aye. >> Six aye, zero nay, one absent. Motion carried. >> Do we have a recommendation for the employment of Chief Operational Officer? >> Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the employment of Thomas Osborne as the Chief Operational Officer as presented. And once voted, I do have a email to read. >> Is there a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Discussion? Ms. Bradford. >> Mr. Clevenger? >> Aye. >> Dr. Lorenzen? >> Aye. >> Mr. Reynolds? >> Aye. >> Mr. Joiner? >> Aye. >> Mr. Hale? >> Aye. >> And Mr. Wetzel? >> Aye. >> Six aye, zero nay, one absent. Motion carried. >> Dr. Clark. >> This email is from Thomas Osborne. Good evening. I am truly honored to accept the role of Chief Operations Officer for Decatur Public Schools. I
078want to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to the Board of Education, Dr. Clark, Dr. Moody, and the entire selection committee for placing your trust in me. This opportunity is both humbling and energizing. Decatur Public Schools has a strong tradition tradition of excellence, resilience, and commitment to student success. I step into this role with deep respect for the work already being done across the district, from my educators in the classroom to the staff who ensure our schools run smoothly every single day. Operations are often behind the scenes, but it is foundational to the to everything our students and teachers achieve. In this role, my priority is simple: to support the district in creating safe, efficient, and high-performing learning environments where every student can thrive. That means being thoughtful about how we manage resources, proactive in
079addressing challenges, and collaborative in how we move forward together. I believe that strong operations are built on clear communication, accountability, and teamwork. I am committed to listening, learning, and working closely with staff, families, and the community to ensure our systems truly serve our students. To the students of Decatur Public Schools, everything we do is for you. Your success is the reason we are here, and I am committed to helping create the conditions that allow you to reach your full potential. Thank you again for this opportunity. I look forward to the work ahead and to partnering with all of you to continue building a district we can all be proud of. Thank you, Thomas Osborne. >> Okay, thank you. Okay, do we have a recommendation for the transition contract for the Chief Operating Officer? >> Hold
080on one moment, let me make sure I'm on the right one. Yes. Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the transitional contract for Thomas Osborne as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Discussion? Ms. Bradford? >> Mr. Hale? >> Aye. >> Mr. Clevenger? >> Aye. >> Mr. Wetzel? >> Aye. >> Dr. Lorenzen? >> Aye. >> Mr. Reynolds? >> Aye. >> And Mr. Joiner? >> Aye. >> Six aye, zero nay, one absent. Motion carried. >> Do we have a recommendation for the intergovernmental agreement between the Macon-Piatt Regional Office of Education number 39 and Decatur Public School District number 61 for the 2026-27 school year continuous services for the following: Alternative Education Programs, Futures Unlimited, Millikin Academy, and Option Three Alternative Program. >> Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the intergovernmental agreement between the
081Macon-Piatt Regional Office of Education number 39 and Decatur Public School District number 61 for the 2026-27 school year continuous services for the following alternative education programs: Futures Unlimited, Millikin Academy, and Option Three Alternative Program as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Ms. Bradford? >> Mr. Wetzel? >> Aye. >> Mr. Clevenger? >> Aye. >> Mr. Joiner? >> Aye. >> Dr. Lorenzen? >> Aye. >> Mr. Reynolds? >> Aye. >> And Mr. Hale? >> Aye. >> Six aye, zero nay, one absent. Motion carried. >> Do we have a recommendation for the Blue Streak one-year renewal? >> Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the Blue Streak one-year renewal as presented. >> Motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Discussion. Ms. Bradford. >> Dr. Laurenson. >> Hi. >> Mr. Joiner. >> Hi. >> Mr. Hale.
082>> Hi. >> Mr. Reynolds. >> Hi. >> Mr. Wetzel. >> Hi. >> And Mr. Clevenger. >> Hi. >> Six aye, zero nay, one absent. Motion carried. >> Do we have a recommendation for the Handwriting Without Tears one year renewal? >> Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the Handwriting Without Tears one year renewal as presented. >> Do I motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Dr. Clark, could I get a a brief explanation? It just a Reader's Digest of what exactly Handwriting Without Tears >> Um >> does and is. >> The students practice letter formation, um handwriting, um making sure that they're not using that phone lingo, um helping to um utilize sentence correctly, reinforcing the alphabetic principle, um and then the recall of uh symbols, um sounds, things of that nature.
083>> Thank you very much. >> It's actually a really good program if teachers get good professional development on it and are um encouraged by their principals to find time in the classrooms to use it. Um one of the things that we hear a lot, especially in the older grades, is that penmanship is something of the past, uh but out of the programs, this is one of the best ones. So, hopefully our teachers will use it. >> I wholeheartedly support anything that has to do with handwriting. There are I had students I taught that didn't know what cursive was, so >> And this has a This has both a print option and a cursive option. >> Okay. >> And I will tell you the teachers that have been using it, they love it. >> Okay, great.
084>> It's really good. >> Thank you. >> Mhm. >> Ms. Bradford. >> Mr. Wetzel. >> Hi. >> Mr. Hale. >> Hi. >> Mr. Reynolds. >> Hi. >> Dr. Laurenson. >> Hi. >> Mr. Clevenger. >> Hi. >> And Mr. Joiner. >> Hi. >> Six aye, zero nay, one absent. Motion >> Do we have a recommendation for the Cisco Unified Communication Manager update? >> Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the Cisco Unified Communications Manager upgrade as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Discussion? >> Is Morris here? >> Yes. >> This You've saved us a bunch of money and I want to compliment you on catching this. I personally appreciate it very much. Nice job. >> Well, thank you. I appreciate that. There you go. You weren't ready for that, were you? It's all right.
085Hey, you did great. >> I apologize if I scared you to death. >> Ms. Bradford. >> Mr. Wetzel. >> I. >> Mr. Joiner. >> I. >> Mr. Clevenger. >> I. >> Dr. Lorenzen. >> I. >> Mr. Reynolds. >> I. >> And Mr. Hale. >> I. >> 6 I, 0 nay, 1 absent, motion carried. >> Thank you. Upcoming dates should be coming up on the screen. May 15th, Prep Academy Cohort 2 seniors, Richland Community College graduation, Decatur Civic Center, 7:00 p.m. The 16th, MacArthur High School graduation, 11:00 a.m., MacArthur High School gymnasium. The 16th, MacArthur's at 11:00 o'clock. Eisenhower Class of 2026 graduation, 2:30 p.m., the Eisenhower gymnasium. The 25th, Memorial Day holiday, district offices are closed. The 26th, the last day of school, student attendance for 2025-2026 school year is It's wide day. And then
086in June, we have June 19th is the Juneteenth holiday and our district offices are closed. The public portion next regular board meeting will be 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 26th, 2026, Kyle Administration Building. Do I have a motion to adjourn? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor, signify by saying I. >> I. >> Those